Cross-Country Skiing In Mont Sainte-Anne With Elie Duquet

I can’t even recall if I actually learned to walk before learning to ski. My earliest childhood memories are of me running around in my parents’ cottage, wearing nothing but diapers and mini ski boots. At a very young age I was bitten by the downhill ski bug, or how my father likes to say, I “fell into the magic potion” just like Obelix! Skiing became a real passion for me, which eventually led me to compete professionally in this sport for many years to come.

Being an athlete in a gliding sport meant that I was able to travel all over the world and discover some truly breathtaking places. Speaking of choice spots, Mont-Sainte-Anne is a spectacular mountain for skiing, I often had the opportunity to train there and I have fond memories of this place.But despite all the time I spent in the area, I’m almost ashamed to admit that I didn’t know that only a few minutes from these slopes was the largest cross-country ski centre in North America with over 200 km of trails!

I must have been living under a rock all these years. Cross-country skiing is so fun!

In fact, I think this explains my lack of interest in cross-country skiing. I had this preconceived notion held by many that cross country skiing was a sport reserved exclusively for older people.

OH MY GOSH was I ever wrong !!!

You have every right to throw tomatoes at me for having been so judgmental about cross-country skiing without ever having even tried it! In all honesty, it was a total surprise and it’s now by far one of my absolute favourite activities to do while in Quebec. I’m now convinced this could be one of THE hottest new activities to do with friends who want to go outdoors and play, or who just want to get out and move for a while without breaking the bank. On top of the incredible landscape and beauty of the Quebec trails, which frankly left me speechless, it’s also amazing how affordable this activity really is!

The other thing that totally seduced me was the therapeutic aspect of this sport. At the end of the day, I felt a complete feeling of satisfaction of having had a great workout while just being outdoors and having fun! I have rarely done any sport (except maybe yoga) that allowed me to be totally in the present moment. To give you a picture, on several occasions I found myself laughing for no particular reason!

I just felt great, it’s as simple as that.

So now my new perfect weekend looks something like this: we prepare a big lunch with hot chocolate in a thermos for the whole gang and halfway through the trail, we stop to eat in a beautiful log cabin. I do not know about you, but for me… I’d do that again in a heartbeat!